1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transfer system for transferring a transported object, such as a container which accommodates or houses various substrates for manufacturing semiconductor devices, between a processing apparatus, such as a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and a transporting vehicle, such as a vehicle, which travels along a track. Here, the “transported object” in the present invention means a product, an intermediate product, a part, an article, a work, a partly-finished good, a good or the like (e.g. a semiconductor or LCD device), or means a box or container for containing such a product or the like (e.g., a container containing the semiconductor or LCD device), which has been transported or is to be transported by a transporting carriage. The load may be a carrier for containing an object to be carried such as a FOUP.
2. Description of the Related Art
As this kind of transfer system, for example, such a system is commercialized that is fixed to the outer frame of a processing apparatus or the exterior of an outer casing and that transfers a transported object, such as a container which is referred to as a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod), between the system and the processing apparatus or between the system and the transporting vehicle. Specifically, the transfer system is equipped with two shelves, such as a port, for transferring the FOUP with the transporting vehicle on the top, and is equipped with six shelves, such as a buffer storage, for temporarily putting the FOUP below the port (e.g. refer to Japanese Patent No. 4182521).
Moreover, such a system has been suggested that is provided with a plurality of shelves, each of which can support the transported object, such as a wafer support pod; and a gripper, which can be displaced to any position in an X-Z plane including the plurality of shelves. Specifically, this system supplies the wafer support pod to the processing apparatus, such as a semiconductor process tool and a measurement tool (e.g. refer to Japanese Patent Kohyo (Japanese translation of PCT international application) No. 2001-509465).
However, the transfer system described in Japanese Patent No. 4182521 and Japanese Patent Kohyo No. 2001-509465 is firmly fixed to the outer frame of the processing apparatus or the exterior of the outer casing. In other words, once the main body of the transfer system is fixed to the processing process, it takes a long time for an operation of canceling the fixation. Moreover, when the transfer system main body is fixed to the processing apparatus, the front of the processing apparatus (in particular, a wall portion in which the port for taking the transported object in and out exists) is blocked. Thus, it is hard or impossible to perform operations associated with the repair, failure, and maintenance of the processing apparatus while the transfer system main body remains fixed. In other words, in order to perform the operation associated with the repair or the like, there arises a time-consuming operation of detaching the transfer system main body from the processing apparatus. Moreover, after that, when the transfer system main body is fixed again to the processing apparatus, there also arises a new fixation operation between the two, which requires a certain degree of positioning accuracy. Moreover, with regard to the transfer system main body, it is bulky in appearance to a non-negligible extent and its fixation position is limited, so that it will be a major hurdle when it is tried to save a space around the processing apparatus in a factory, which is technically problematic.